Across the Creek
by GoodVibesBabe
Summary: Annabeth and Malcolm Chase couldn't have been more different. Annabeth was curious and driven while Malcolm was reserved and careful. The creek had been their favorite playing area for two years until that day in July. Annabeth wants to know just what is across the creek. Malcolm will do anything to protect his sister. Previously known as WhoSaysPrettyGirlsCan'tWrite.


**{Yo, yo, yo, what up, y'all? Yeah, I've been M.I.A. for the last…what, year? No excuses. Nope. None. I've gone and deleted all of my unfinished stories off my account because I feel very, very, **_**very **_**guilty every time I visit my account and I see them. Untouched. Screaming for attention and at least a decent stopping point. But, alas, it cannot be. And it's a bummer, too, because I really liked "Tim McGraw." I even changed my username because…well, I hated it. Too long. Oh well, it is what it is, right? I'm a lazy procrastinator who gets caught up in school and life (which, I don't have, btw). Yeah. ****So, basically, if you just skipped the whole top part of this intro paragraph, you really only need to read the next few sentences. This story is probably one I will finish because I've written it before. I had an assignment my freshman year to write a short story based from a picture that we chose. I wrote a (really, very long) short story about two siblings who play by the creek behind their house on a daily basis before they discover something on the other side of the creek. I'm pretty much just changing the characters and expanding the story line so that it's more of a suitably sized piece. So, with **_**all**_** of that nonsense being said, I give you, "Across the Creak" (lame and unoriginal, I know) Enjoy, dudes.****}**

_Prologue_

Annabeth Chase was a very curious girl. It was clear to anyone who had ever met the tyke. As a baby, she would always take a fist full of her mother's hair as she leaned over her cradle, and tug questioningly at it. When her mother (or any other woman, for that matter) held her in her arms, Annabeth would grab onto her necklaces and observe them with her wide grey eyes before sticking whatever pendant hung off the chain in her small mouth.

When she was old enough to crawl, her Athena and Frederick Chase had to block off the doorways to ensure that she stayed in one room after an incident where she crawled out the front door after being left in the living room. When she learned to walk, it was much worse. Her tiny feet pattered all throughout the large farm house as she ran here and there, picking up foreign objects, and presenting them to her parents, who usually wound up panting for breath after chasing the small girl.

As the years came and went, her curiosity grew, and she began to roam and wander more. Her parents knew that they could do nothing to stop it or suppress it, so they accepted it and let her be. Yes, little Annabeth Chase was quite the little rascal.

Her brother, on the other hand, was a different case.

Malcolm Chase was five years old when his baby sister was born. He remembered when his mother and father had surprised him with the news. He'd been excited to have a new playmate. He was getting tired of being alone. So, when asked what kind of sibling he wanted, he said a brother. He wanted someone to read with and play cars and pretend Battleship. He'd get to be the captain every time because he was older, and he'd order the little boy to get him a cookie because to win a war, a captain needed his sugar.

Needless to say, he was shocked and a bit disappointed when his father emerged from the master bedroom, announcing to Malcolm that he had a new baby sister. He had trudged into the room that Saturday afternoon, arms crossed and eyebrows scrunched in a pout as his father guided him over to the bed where his mother sat against the mahogany headboard, a thin film of sweat glistening on her forehead and cheeks with a small bundle of sorts in her arms.

Malcolm had stayed planted next to the bed, still pouting, when he heard a loud cry and tiny fist popped out from the blanket in his mother's arms. Malcolm jumped back in alarm and Frederick Chase chuckled. He hauled the young boy onto the bed beside his mother, and she placed the baby gently in his arms.

Malcolm forgot that he was mad for a moment.

He watched in wonder as a small face scrunched together and then relaxed, tiny fists still waving wildly. He smiled at the little baby. He already loved her (though he would have loved a brother more). He silently vowed, then, to never let anything harm his precious sister. He would be the best big brother there ever was, and he'd brag about it to all the other big brothers at school.

Unfortunately, Annabeth, being Annabeth, made that very difficult for him. She was always putting things in her mouth, and crawling off. When she turned one, and learned to walk, Malcolm was sure that was the end of it. He thought there was no way to protect this little girl when he never knew where she was half the time. Trying to be the best big brother ever was getting hard and irritating. He never had any time to play anymore when he was trying to keep Annabeth still and safe. He eventually decided that instead of trying to keep her in one spot, he should just join her and play with her so he could have fun and keep an eye on her, too.

Malcolm had been around longer than Annabeth had, and although she was as curious as they come, he knew his way around the house and the land. One day, he decided to take his five-year-old sister down to the creek behind the house. The creek was shielded from the rest of the world by tall oak trees and cattails. Malcolm had only been there a handful of times, but deemed it as "no fun" when he realized there wasn't much to do there by himself. Then Annabeth came along.

Just as he had suspected, Malcolm's young sister fell in love with the new setting, and she begged him to take her back again. A daily routine fell into place as Malcolm and Annabeth began visiting the creek every day to play.

But not even curious little Annabeth Chase wondered what was beyond the brush across the creek.

**{So, basically, that last sentence was shit. It's so random, like, what? I didn't know how else to put it and I had to end the prologue somehow, so…yeah. I'm pretty sure I switched narratives throughout it. Oh whale. The official first chapter will be up soon, and in case you were wondering, Stepmother Chase and the twins don't exist in this story. And the year the story begins (in the next chapter) is 1919. It's an early 20****th**** century type thing. With that being said, I hope you enjoyed it and if you didn't, I don't blame you. But I'll try harder, I swear! Until next time, my dears! Please review and be honest, I don't get offended easily! Just don't go cussing up a storm and saying that the story is trash (even if it's true). I need the constructive stuff!}**


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